I heard all your reasons
I heard all your plans
I have seen the seasons
Clutched up in your hands
You’re the one eyed feather
You’re the lion’s mane
Swear you’ve heard the weather
Calling out your name

There’ll be no more winters
There’ll be no more spring and
There’ll be no more dinner bells
Left for you to ring
There’ll be no more dinner bells
Dinner bells to ring

Maestro learns the music
Musicians learn to dance
There’ll be no more trumpets
There’ll be no more flutes
No more clapping hands
I’ve heard all your reasons
I’ve heard all your plans
I heard of your treasons
and I’ve heard all your pleas
And I’ve made friends with the hang man

So there’ll be no more winter
There’ll be no more spring and
There’ll be no more dinner bells
Left for you to ring
There’ll be no more dinner bells
Dinner bells to ring
There’ll be no more dinner bells
Dinner bells to ring
There’ll be no more dinner bells
Dinner bells to ring

You can have a fall and winter of your own
Staying warm inside your Victorian home
But when the city’s so hot the winos burst into flames,
When the Jesus freaks collapse with the weight of their claims

Marry young, Diana
I don’t want to see you old and alone
It’s no fun, Diana
I don’t want to see you rot in the home for aging spinsters.

You should find someone as loyal as a dog
Who will still love you when you look like a frog
Someone to rock your chair and bring you pink lemonade
Someone to peel you a grape 100 degrees in the shade

Marry young, Diana
I don’t want to see you old and alone
It’s no fun, Diana
I don’t want to see you rot in the home for aging spinsters.

It’s true that all the men you knew were dealers
Who said they were through with dealing
Every time you gave them shelter

I know that kind of man
Its hard to hold the hand of anyone
Who is reaching for the sky just to surrender.
Who is reaching for the sky just to surrender.

And then sweeping up the jokers that he left behind
You find he did not leave you very much
Not even laughter

Like any dealer he was watching for the card
That is so high and wild
He’ll never need to deal another
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger.
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger.

And then leaning on your window sill
He’ll say one day you caused his will
To weaken with your love and warmth and shelter

And then taking from his wallet
An old schedule of trains, he’ll say
“I told you when I came, I was a stranger.
I told you when I came, I was a stranger.”

But now another stranger seems to want you
To ignore his dreams
As though they were the burden of some other

Oh you’ve seen that man before
His golden arm dispatching cards
But now its rusted from the elbow to the finger
And he wants to trade the game he plays for shelter.
Yes he wants to trade the game he knows for shelter.

You hate to watch another tired man
Lay down his hand
Like he was giving up the holy game of poker.

And while he talks his dreams to sleep
You notice theres a highway
That is curling up like smoke above his shoulder.
It’s curling just like smoke above his shoulder.

You tell him to come in sit down
But something makes you turn around
The door is open you cant close your shelter

You try the handle of the road
It opens do not be afraid
Its you my love, you who are the stranger.
It is you my love, you who are the stranger.

Well, I’ve been waiting, I was sure
We’d meet between the trains were waiting for
I think its time to board another

Please understand, I never had a secret chart
To get me to the heart of this
Or any other matter

Well he talks like this
You don’t know what he’s after
When he speaks like this,
You don’t know what hes after.
“Lets meet tomorrow if you chose
Upon the shore, beneath the bridge
That they are building on some endless river.”

Then he leaves the platform
For the sleeping car thats warm
You realize, he’s only advertising one more shelter
And it comes to you, he never was a stranger.
And you say “o.k. the bridge or someplace later.”

And then sweeping up the jokers
That he left behind
You find he did not leave you very much
Not even laughter

Like any dealer he was watching for the card
That is so high and wild
He’ll never need to deal another
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger.
He was just some Joseph looking for a manger.

And leaning on your window sill
He’ll say one day you caused his will
To weaken with your love and warmth and shelter

And then taking from his wallet
An old schedule of trains
He’ll say “I told you when I came I was a stranger.
I told you when I came I was a stranger.”

Suzanne takes you down to
her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she’s half crazy
But that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you’ve touched her perfect body
with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said “All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them”
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body
with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror
And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body
with her mind.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
you were talking so brave and so sweet,
giving me head on the unmade bed,
while the limousines wait in the street.

Those were the reasons and that was New York,
we were running for the money and the flesh.
And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left.

Ah but you got away, didn’t you babe?
You just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don’t need you,
I need you, I don’t need you
and all of that jiving around.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.

And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty,
you fixed yourself, you said, “Well never mind,
we are ugly but we have the music.”

And then you got away, didn’t you babe?
You just turned your back on the crowd,
you got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don’t need you,
I need you, I don’t need you
and all of that jiving around.

I don’t mean to suggest that I loved you the best,
I can’t keep track of each fallen robin.
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel,
that’s all, I don’t even think of you that often.